Swedish American studies, including local history and genealogy, are among the best documented immigrant studies in the United States. This is the result of the Swedish genius for documenting almost every aspect of life from birth to death. They have, in fact, created and retained documents that Americans would never think of looking for, such as certificates of change of employment, of change of address, military records relating whether a soldier's horse was properly equipped, and more common events such as marriage, emigration, and death. When immigrants arrived in the United States and...

This book is a summary of the Democratic National Political Conventions from 1832 to 2008. This book has a brief summary of the key issues of that time period. Along with the Democrats Presidential nominee and Democrats Vice Presidential nominee.

The Louisiana of today bears little resemblance to the vaguely defined territory acquired by the United States from France in 1803 for $15 million. At the time of the Louisiana Purchase no one could present any maps or documents that delineated the boundaries of the province with reasonable accuracy. As a result of that uncertainty, the United States was more or less free to advance its claims beyond the Mississippi River on terms favorable to its own interests. Louisiana as a province had a colorful and dramatic history in its roles as a European colony, a pawn in European diplomacy, and a...

Those who already awaited the coming of vacation days with keen anticipation could undoubtedly better understand and imagine what delights Lucio had in entertaining the thought of spending his vacation with his friend out in the province, just as soon as he had received his sheepskin diploma from the Provincial High School, and laid up his dust-covered books on the shelves in order to resume the happy role of youthful life. In one of the rural and sequestered plains of Central Luzon, called the Fertile Valley, where 'the rice fields yielded the cup of joy to the industrious farmers, and where...

Warriors, statesmen, prophets, and scholars; the firmest of friends and most formidable of foes: there are heroes (and heroines) of many kinds in the often tragic, yet inspiring saga of North American Indians. Most-but not all-of the Indian personalities whose lives are briefly described here were Chiefs; some of them have become famous around the world. All were leaders in a great struggle to preserve treasured lands and lifeways. With their tribesmen, they are inseparably linked to our country's history from its earliest beginnings through generations of growth.

The music lover who is listening to Indian music for the first time is apt to be perplexed by his novel experience. He may protest that "It all sounds alike," that "They only have one tune," and in all seriousness finally ask, "But is it music?" Such honest reactions are not uncommon among the uninitiated. They are normal human responses to the unfamiliar and are not peculiarly related to Indian music. Similar questions have been raised about the art work of our best contemporary composers, artists, writers, and architects by those who are unable to view the new art in its social setting and...

Long before the arrival of the Europeans on this continent, and from time immemorial, they have been a sovereign nation, rightfully under the sole and exclusive government of their own laws, usages and customs, within their own dominions, of which dominions, except so far as altered by treaty, they have ever been and still are the absolute lords and masters, acknowledging no earthly superior. The arrival of the Europeans on this continent produced no change in their political condition. They were never conquered. They have had various wars with the white people, which have been followed by...

James Madison's family traditions were wholly colonial and extended back to the first settlement of Virginia. With the mother country he had no living connection, and only one member of the family, his second cousin, Rev. James Madison, received any part of his education there. England was not, therefore, home to the Madison's as it was to many other Virginia families, and there were no divisions of the house and consequent heartburning when the separation came, but all of them embraced the patriot cause in the beginning and without hesitation. From the shores of Chesapeake Bay, where James...

In 1942 the Archive of Folk Song in the Library of Congress issued its first albums of recorded folk music, thereby making some of its rich collection of field recordings available to the public. The recordings were issued under the editorship of Alan Lomax, then head of the Archive. (The editing of the sixth album was entrusted to William N. Fenton.) Each album they really were "albums" in those days--consisted of five 78-rpm records pressed in black shellac (the famous clear red vinyl was to come later). The albums patriotically mixed ten-inch and twelve-inch records-shellac was being...